Last century, we dreamt to sip of Martian water and sail on lunar Europa by 2001. Yet we sit lonely on the rock of home, impenitent to our own ambitions, cast away on the island of Earth... After having explored the resources of understanding in our environment, we seek answers still. We must move on or die. For no greater tragedy exists then the denial of sentience to further its understanding of self. Sentience commands all quests of spirit and knowledge as slaves to serve it. Love and Hate are simple fuels to its furnace. Sentience knows no better a quest then an answer to "why?" for its very definition is the question. Gone is the quest to understand what breathes in space, what energy is light, and what drives our heart. Let Mars be the quest of the future rather then real estate or money. Obtaining dreams is not possible long as a dollar value is attached to the human spirit. We fight like crowded fish in a bowl on the floor of an ocean. If we would rise up... we would see that there is more room, more resources, and more wonder in the universe then can be comprehended or exploited by our current perspective.

If we are true to our selves, then on to Mars, on to Jupiter's moons, and on to the unknown. Only when we reach new levels of understanding will our world will be a playground of peace, and our conscience rule actions free of emotion and ignorance. If heaven is the name that fits this description, let it ring in life. For only in the actions of our entire species can we hope to solve our problems. And no greater achievement would there be then to reach Mars. The world would rally, the human spirit would claim victory, for this achievement is only obtainable by all the combined knowledge of a species we call Homo sapiens.

On to mars.

Collin Douma continues to dream with both feet on the ground, and his eyes to the stars.